Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU UEd a study on difficulties on learning listening skill via the textbook new headway pre intermediate of the first year non english major student at the university of economic

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES POST GRADUATE STUDIES ******** LƯU THỊ LAN PHƯƠNG THE DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS AT ACADEMY OF FINANCE WHEN LEARNING THE READING SKILL IN THE COURSE BOOK INTELLIGENT BUSINESS (PRE-INTERMEDIATE) NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN MÀ SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT CHUYÊN ANH, HỌC VIỆN TÀI CHÍNH, GẶP PHẢI KHI HỌC KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC TRONG GIÁO TRÌNH INTELLIGENT BUSINESS, PRE-INTERMEDIATE MA Minor Programme thesis Field: English Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: M.A Lâm Phúc Hân HANOI- SEPTEMBER 2009 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT ………… ………………………………………………….i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………… …………………ii ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………… ……iii TABLE OF CONTENTS…… ……………………… ………………………………… iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS… ……………… ………………………………………… v LIST OF FIGURE AND TABLES…………………………… ………………………… vi Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationales ……………………………… ……………………………………… 1.2 Significance and aims of the study ……………………………………………… 1.3 Research Questions …… ……………………………………………………… 1.4 Methods of the study …………………………………… .…………………… 1.5 Scope of the study ……………………………………… ……………………… 1.6 Design of the study ……………………………………………………………… Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 An overview of reading and reading comprehension ……………………………5 2.1.1 Definition of reading and reading comprehension …………………………… 2.1.1.1 Definition of reading ……………………………………………………… 2.1.1.2 Definition of reading comprehension ……………………………………… 2.1.2 ESP and Reading comprehension in ESP ……………………………………… 2.1.2.1 Definition of ESP and reading comprehension in ESP …………………… .7 2.1.2.2 Types of reading exercises in ESP ………………………………………… 2.1.3 Reading difficulties for language learners ……………………………………….9 2.1.3.1 Reading skill problems … ……………………………….………………… 10 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2.1.3.2 Language problems ………………………………………………………… 11 2.1.3.3 Background knowledge problems ……………………………………… .12 2.2 An introduction of course book “Intelligent Business” (pre-intermediate) and the current context of learning reading skill in this book ………………………………… …14 2.2.1 General description of course book “Intelligent Business” (pre-intermediate) 14 2.2.1.1 Aims and approaches …………………………………………………………14 2.2.1.2 Design and organization ……………………………………………………15 2.2.2.3 Language content …………………………………………………………… 15 2.2.1.4 Skills ……………………………………………………………………… 16 2.2.1.5 Topics ………………………………………………………………….……17 2.2.2 Characteristics of reading texts and reading exercises ………………… …….17 2.2.2.1 Characteristics of reading texts ……………………………………………….17 2.2.2.2 Characteristics of reading exercises ……………………………………… 18 2.2.3 Current situation of teaching course book …………………………………… 19 2.2.3.1 Length of the course and time allocation for reading skill …………………19 2.2.3.2 Teaching facilities …………………………………………………………….19 2.2.3.3 Students and their background …………………………………………… 20 2.2.4 Summary ……………………………………………………………………… 20 Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Context of the study ………………………………………………………………21 3.2 The subject and participants ……………………………………………………22 3.3 Data collection instruments …………………………………………………….22 3.4 Data collection procedure ………………………………………………………23 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 3.5 Data analysis procedure ……………… ……………………………… …… 24 3.6 Summary ……………………………………………………………………….…25 Chapter 4: RESULT AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Difficulties encountered by the students when learning reading skill ……………26 4.1.1 Data analysis of the classroom observation …………………………………….26 4.1.2 Students’ reading difficulties in terms of reading skills …………………… …28 4.1.3 Students’ reading difficulties in terms of background knowledge ……… …30 4.1.4 Students’ reading difficulties in terms of vocabulary ………………………… 32 4.1.5 Students’ reading difficulties in terms of other areas ……………………… 33 4.2 Pedagogical implication and suggestions ………………………………………34 4.2.1 Training students to become efficient readers ……………………………… 35 4.2.1.1 Training students with different reading strategies ……………….……… 35 4.2.1.2 Assigning and checking students’ fulfillment of homework …………………37 4.2.1.3 Encouraging students’ extensive reading habits ………………………… ….37 4.2.2 Improving economic background knowledge for the first year students at FFL 38 4.2.3 The teachers’ being aware of their students’ needs ……….……………………39 4.2.4 The Academy of Finance’s being aware of the needs of the students at FFL .39 4.3 Summary ………………………………………………………………………….40 Chapter 5: CONCLUSION 5.1 Summary of the study …………………………………………………………… 41 5.1 Limitations and Suggestions for further study ………………………………….42 REFERENCES… …………………………………………………………………………….i APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………………ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figures Figure 1: The vicious circle of the weak readers Figure 2: The Virtuous Circle of a Good Reader Tables Table 1: Students’ reading difficulties in terms of reading skills Table 2: Students’ reading difficulties in terms of background knowledge Table 3: Students’ reading difficulties in terms of vocabulary Table 4: Students’ reading difficulties in terms of other areas LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationales It is the fact that nowadays English has been widely used in every field, especially in business, in which it plays an important role in communication in general, and in business transaction in particular Thus, there is a growing demand for English language teaching to meet the needs of a new generation of learners who want to learn English to “gain access to the required knowledge that is available, either exclusively or most readily, in English” (Munby, 1978: 3) or to serve other different specific purposes That leads to the coming into being of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Being thoroughly alert to the importance of ESP, Academy of Finance decided to officially set up the Faculty of Foreign Languages which specializes in training the students with economics knowledge in English In the faculty, English is considered as a major subject and it is taught with the purpose that the students will take it professionally in their future work Thus to make English study fully suitable for the learners’ practical needs, great attention is paid to teaching and learning English of economics In teaching and learning Business English, reading has always received a great deal of attention Generally, this is understandable since teaching English in Vietnam provide students with the abilities to understand the written materials and to communicate in English Moreover, English is learnt and taught in a non- native environment That is the reason why reading is not only an important means to gain knowledge but also a means by which further study takes place Carrel (1981: 1) asserts that “for many students, reading is by far the most important of the four macro-skills, particularly in English as a second foreign language” This is extremely true to the first year students of the FFL at Academy of Finance because reading helps them to make extensive use of academic materials written in English and this is a good way to enable them to improve their professional knowledge in their specific or specialized fields However, there is plenty of evidence that the students at FFL often face difficulties as follows: LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com - There has been almost no research work touching upon reading difficulties of the students at FFL - Most first year students at FFL have not had experience in learning ESP before - The students are not of equal level of English - The course book Intelligent Business is totally new to them The aforesaid situation of ESP learning at FFL, Academy of Finance has aroused the researcher’s interest and forced her to dedicate her efforts to the writing of “The difficulties encountered by first-year English-major students at Academy of Finance when learning the reading skill in course book Intelligent Business (pre-intermediate).” 1.2 Significance and aims of the study This study may provide information about the reading difficulties that the first year students at FFL face Pedagogical implication and suggestions given in this study are believed to be relevant to improving the learning of reading at FFL Hopefully, the study will make some contributions to the improvement of teaching and learning reading economics at FFL, Academy of Finance The study is aimed at: 1) Better understanding the concepts of reading, reading comprehension and reading comprehension in ESP 2) Finding out some difficulties in dealing with reading skills in the course book Intelligent Business 3) Giving some pedagogical implication and suggestions to improve the learning of reading skill at FFL, Academy of Finance 1.3 Research Questions The above aims of the study can be realized by the following research questions: (i) What is the present context of learning reading in course book Intelligent Business, pre-intermediate? LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com (ii) What are reading difficulties encountered by the first year students when dealing with the Intelligent Business, pre-intermediate? (iii) What are possible solutions to help them overcome those difficulties? In order to find out the answers to the research questions, some sub-questions shall be dealt with: (i) What are students’ reading difficulties in terms of reading skills? (ii) What are students’ reading difficulties in terms of vocabulary? (iii) What are students’ reading difficulties in terms of back ground knowledge? Once difficulties are found, feasible solutions to overcome those difficulties will be suggested 1.4 Methods of the study The study is carried out in terms of both theory and practice First, the theoretical background of the study mainly relies on many published books written by different authors famous for ESP teaching and learning Second, the study is carried out with data collected from two different sources: (1) a survey done on 112 FFL first-year students to collect information about their views of reading difficulties and causes of them (2) class observations on three classes of first year students at FFL to observe students’ reaction, involvements, etc, in reading classes which are needed to help design questions in survey questionnaire 1.5 Scope of the study It is impossible to cover every aspect of language theory and practice in this study Therefore, the study focuses on difficulties in learning reading encountered by students at FFL, Academy of Finance It is not proposed to deal with other skills: speaking, writing or listening skills And other subjects of the study are the first year students and limited to course book Intelligent Business, pre-intermediate LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1.6 Design of the study The study is divided into five chapters: - Chapter one introduces rationales, significance and aims of the study, research questions, methods as well as scope of the study - Chapter two deals with an overview of the theoretical background of the research It is concerned with the issues relevant to the topic of the research: reading and reading comprehension, ESP and reading comprehension in ESP, the reading difficulties experienced by language learners and an introduction of course book Intelligent Business and the current context of learning reading skill in the book - Chapter three presents the research methodology in details covering context of the study, the subject and participants, data collection instruments, data collection procedure and data analysis procedure - Chapter four mentions the result of the study including the exploration of difficulties encountered by the students when learning reading skill and it also gives some pedagogical implication and suggestions - Chapter five is the conclusions summarizing the main issues in the study and mentioning limitation and suggestions for further study LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW With the aim of providing a theoretical background to this study, this chapter will deal with a review of issues most relevant to the thesis’s topic: Definition of reading and reading comprehension, ESP and Reading comprehension in ESP, and an introduction of the course book “Intelligent Business” (pre-intermediate) and the current context of learning reading skill in this book 2.1 An overview of reading and reading comprehension 2.1.1 Definition of reading and reading comprehension 2.1.1.1 Definition of reading Reading is one of the most complicated forms of information processing Different scholars have looked at reading from different angles and have reached somewhat different conclusions about the nature of reading Discrepancy of views has partly been the result of the different purposes with which researchers have approached reading While some have studied reading to uncover the underlying processes, others have tried to identify its sub-skills for teaching and testing purposes Each view on reading reflects what reading is to the scholar who presents that view Williams, E (1990: 2) stated that reading “is a process whereby one looks at and understands what has been written” According to Goodman (1971: 135), reading “is a psycholinguistic process by which the reader, a language user, reconstructs, as best as he can, a message which has been encoded by a writer as a graphic display” From Goodman’s point of view, this act of reconstruction is viewed as “a cyclical process of sampling, predicting, testing, and confirming” Taking the same view on reading, especially on the “act of reconstruction” as Goodman, Nuttall (1982: 4) asserts that “reading is getting a message from a text” According to Harmer (1989: 153), reading “is an exercise dominated by the eyes and the brain The eyes receive messages and the brain then has to work out the significance of these messages” Harmer also focuses on the speed of this mechanical process “a reading text moves at a speed of the reader” which means that the reader is the one who decides how fast he wants to read the text LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 39 4.2.3 Teachers’ being aware of their students’ needs Many students admitted that they could not understand lecture completely in English and found it very difficult to understand terms explained in English Therefore, during reading classes, teachers not receive full response from their students This may be either because the teachers strongly believe that their students can comprehend the reading texts on the basis of their English language knowledge or because they are influenced by traditional teaching approaches that the teachers are the centre of education and the students only take passive roles Nevertheless, the goal of any teaching is to help the students to take in the possible greatest knowledge and skills To achieve this, the teachers and the students must cooperate harmoniously in the class Once teachers have been aware of their students’ reading habits and weakness, they would give more suitable activities to their students They can encourage the students to ignore unknown words by instructing them not to look them up in a dictionary unless the meaning of the reading passage is not clear In that way, the teachers can help the students gradually give up their passive learning habits to obtain the best result 4.2.4 The Academy of Finance’s being aware of the needs of the students at FFL To help students at FFL learn English well, especially reading skill, the Academy of Finance should supply more favorable conditions for both teachers and students at FFL In other words, it should equip the students and teachers with better learning as well as teaching facilities such as classroom for learning foreign languages, projectors with sound devices, etc In addition, it should pass some regulations to reduce teaching hours for those who are responsible for Intelligent Business course books and award them a grant for the additional expense for buying supplementary materials Intelligent Business is totally a new book first used in teaching English major students at FFL Therefore, each teacher has to invest a lot of time and effort in it, any incentives in the spiritual or material forms from the Board of Rectors and Heads of the Faculty will encourage the teaching staff and the students to teach and learn better LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 40 4.3 Summary This chapter has analyzed the result of the survey questionnaire conducted among the students who are learning reading English in the course book intelligent Business to find out the reading difficulties they encountered This also has presented pedagogical implication and suggestions with the aim of improving the situation Such pedagogical implication and suggestions are training students to become efficient readers, improving economics background knowledge for the first year students at FFL, the teachers should be aware of their students’ needs, the Academy of Finance should be aware of the needs of the students at FFL To all these things well, the students can use the knowledge, the reading skills and strategies to overcome difficulties in reading a text and comprehend it, this ensures a successful reading lesson LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 41 Chapter 5: CONCLUSION The previous chapters of the study have completely devoted to the investigation of the difficulties encountered by the first year English- major students when dealing with reading texts in the Intelligent Business course book This chapter is to close the thesis with the summary of the study, limitation and suggestions for further study 5.1 Summary of the study It is undeniable that reading plays a crucial role in foreign language learning Reading difficulties experienced by learners due to different causes are unavoidable and they attract great concerns of the researcher as well as other ESP teachers By reviewing the relevant literature on reading and reading comprehension, it is of great importance for the readers to deeply understand the nature of reading and reading comprehension The literature review also provides the definition of ESP and reading comprehension in ESP, types of reading exercises in ESP and reading difficulties for foreign language learners Specially, three main difficulties in reading that should be taken into consideration include reading skills, language proficiency and background knowledge The present context of learning reading in the course book has been objectively described in order to specify it in contrast with other ESP training program to the extent of objectives, students, learning and teaching facilities To find out the problems in learning reading English in the course book Intelligent Business, the observations and survey questionnaire were carried out among three classes and 112 first year students at FFL, Academy of Finance The class observations and survey were done to examine the students’ attitudes to their reading lessons and the difficulties they encounter while doing reading in class From the result of the study, it can be seen clearly that learning reading skills at FFL is still far from satisfactory The students are not equipped with necessary skills or strategies to become efficient readers Another blame goes to poor vocabulary, especially vocabulary in business of the students What is more, inefficient background knowledge is also considered to LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 42 be the next cause Basing on the result of the study, the thesis comes up with some pedagogical implication and suggestions These include ways to train students to become efficient readers, to improve the economics background knowledge for the first year students The teachers should take their students’ need into account and the Academy of Finance also take the special needs of the students at FFL into their consideration Finally, it is hoped that the study will make a significant contribution to better the current situation of learning reading English in Intelligent Business course book The study is also hoped to prove worthwhile to those who want to carry on this area and those who are concerned with this problem Great as efforts have been, certain errors are inevitable The researcher would be appreciate every reader’s comments and tolerance for the shortcomings and deficiencies of the study 5.1 Limitations and Suggestions for further study In most research projects, limitations are inevitable The study presented in this thesis is of no exception Firstly, because of the researcher’s limited time, ability and conditions, the study merely focuses on difficulties encountered by the first year students when learning reading in the course book, pre-intermediate Further research on other skills, for other students and problems perceived by the teachers seems to be of great usefulness Secondly, within the scope of the current study, the researcher could not deal with other important factors that affect the reading process such as the reader’s general intelligence, language aptitude, personal feeling, motivation, etc This calls for further research Finally, the researcher’s practical experience in teaching reading English in business and professional knowledge are limited; therefore, pedagogical implication and suggestions in chapter are likely to be subjective and incomplete, leaving the issue open to debate Future work may help overcome this shortcoming The thesis has been completed to the researcher’s satisfaction in spite of unavoidable limits and shortcomings Hopefully, the thesis will pave the way for other research of the researcher herself and of many others who wish to bring about effective learning and teaching reading For that reason, constructive comments and suggestions are highly appreciated LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com REFERENCES Alderson, R.C (1984), Handbook of Reading Research, Longman, New York Alderson J.C and Urquhart A.H (1984), Reading in a Foreign Language, Longman, New York Barnett M.A (1989), More than meets the eye: Foreign Language Reading Theory and Practice, Cal and Prentice Hall, New York Bernhardt, E B.and Kamil, M L ( 1995), “Interpreting relationships between L1 and L2 reading: Consolidating the linguistic threshold and the linguistic interdependence hypotheses”, Applied Linguistic,16(1), pp.15-30 Carrel Et.al (1981), Interactive Approaches to Second Language Reading, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Carrell P.L 1981), “Culture-specific schemata in L2 reading comprehension” , Selected papers from the ninth Illinois TESOL/BE annual convention and the first Midwest TESOL conference, pp 123-132 Clarke M.A (1980), The short circuit hypothesis of ESL reading, Modern Language Journal, 64, pp 203-209 Coady J.A (1979), A Psycholinguistic Model of the ESP Readers in a Second Language: Hypotheses, Organisation and Practice, Powley, Mass, Newbury House Fries C (1963), Linguistics and Reading, Rinehart and Winston, New York 10 Fries C (1945), Teaching and Learning English as a Foreign Language, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor 11 Goodman, K S (1971), Psychology of Second Language Learning, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 12 Grellet F (1995), Developing Reading Skills, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 13 Grellet, F (1981), Developing Reading Skills: A practical Guide to Reading Comprehension Exercises, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 14 Halliday (1976), Cohesion in English, Longman, Lon Don and New York 15 Harmer, J (1989) The practical Language Teaching Essex : Longman Group Ltd 16 Hutchinson T and Waters A ( 1987), English for Specific Purposes, Cambridge: LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Cambridge University Press 17 Johnson P (1981), “Effects on reading comprehension of language complexity and cultural background of a text”, TESOL Quarterly, 15(2), pp 169-181 18 Johnson, C (2006), Intelligent Business, Longman, New York 19 Jolly D (Oct, 1978), The establishment of a Self-access Scheme for Intensive Reading, Paper presented at the Goethe Institute, British Council Colloquium on Reading, Paris 20 Karim Sadeghi (2007), “The Key for Successful Reader-writer Interaction: Factors Affecting Reading Comprehension in L2 Revisited”, Asian EFL Journal, Volume 9, Issue 21 MacNamara J (1967), Comparative Studies of reading and problem solving in two languages, Language Research Group (ERIC Document Reproduction Service), McGill University 22 Munby J (1978), Communicative Syllabus Design, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 23 Nguy Thuy Trang (2005), A Study on how to improve the teaching of reading English in economics to the second year students at Hanoi National Economics University (M.A Thesis), Vietnam National University, Hanoi, College of Foreign Languages 24 Nuttall C (1982), Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language, Heinemann, London 25 Nuttall, C (1996), Teaching Reading Skills in a foreign language Oxford: MacMillan Heinemann 26 Osman S (1985) “Comprehension of Expository Text by Readers of English as Second Language”, Research in Reading and Writing, SEMEO Regional Language Center, pp 80 27 Pham Thi Thanh Thuy (2000), Reading Difficulties in EFL as perceived by teachers and first-year students of the English Department, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University ( M.A Thesis), Vietnam National University, Hanoi, College of Foreign Languages 28 Richards, J.C (1992), The context of language teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com University Press 29 Sarig (1987), “High-level reading in the first and in the foreign language: Some comparative process data”, Research in Reading in English as a second language, Washington, D C.: TESOL, pp 105-120 30 Steffensen M F (1979), “A Cross-cultural Perspective on Reading Comprehension”, Reading Research Quarterly, 15, pp 10-29 31 Strang, R (1972), “The nature of Reading”, Reading Today and Tomorrow, Open Milton Keynes, pp 67-117 32 Wallace M.J (1993), Reading, Oxford University Press, Oxford 33 Widdowson, H G (1983), Learning Purpose and Language Use, Oxford: Oxford University Press 34 Williams, E (1990), Reading in the classroom Macmillian Publisher 35 Yorio C.A (1971), Some sources of Reading problems for Foreign Language Learners, Language Learning 36 www.statpac.com/surveys/advantages.htm LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDICES Appendix Bookmap LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Appendix Sample reading text LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Appendix Questionnaire for students The following questionnaire aims at finding out difficulties in learning reading English in the course book ‘ Intelligent Business’ ( pre-intermediate) Your answer to these question will be studied and, if they are frank and accurate, will be of valuable help in the development of the better ways of learning as well as teaching English for the book Please respond to each statement below as frankly as you can Thank you for your cooperation! (Please tick the appropriate category) Length of English study a) – years c) Over years b) – years d) other (please specify) (no of years) Gender: Male: Female: Please study the questions carefully and tick (√) the appropriate box: VERY DIFFICULT (VD), DIFFICULT (D), EASY (E), VERY EASY (VE) How difficult/easy No DO YOU HAVE DIFFICULTIES IN VD D E VE Total score READING SKILLS Understanding the main idea of paragraphs or reading texts? Skimming? Scanning? Predicting vocabulary and terms through context or definition? Recognising implications and making inferences and conclusion? Summarising? LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com How difficult/easy No DO YOU HAVE DIFFICULTIES IN VD D E VE Total score BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE Understanding unfamiliar topics? Understanding unfamiliar cultural content of the reading texts (e.g., differences in values, attitudes and cultural customs)? Understanding terms explained by teachers in English? 10 Understanding lectures completely in English? 11 Finding Vietnamese equivalent for terms? How difficult/easy No DO YOU HAVE DIFFICULTIES IN VD D E VE Total score VOCABULRY 12 Understanding the details of reading texts? 13 Finding the appropriate meaning for polysemantic words (từ đa nghĩa)? 14 Finding the meaning of unfamiliar words? 15 Understanding and remembering vocabulary and terminologies? 16 Understanding the meaning of phrasal verbs? LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com How difficult/easy No DO YOU HAVE DIFFICULTIES IN VD D E VE Total score OTHERS 17 Recognising reference words: (pronouns, demonstratives, articles)? 18 Identifying the words’ part of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.) 19 Finding out elements of sentences ( S, V, O, A, C, the main clause and the subordinate clauses) 20 Recognising conjunctions 21 Understanding ellipsis and substitution 22 Understanding the types of sentences ( passive voice, conditionals, subjunctives) 23 Identifying discourse makers (first, then, in addition, finally……) Thank you very much for your co-operation in filling in this questionnaire All your responses will be treated as confidential LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Appendix Classroom observation checklist Unit reading text: Marketing to students (class 51.01) Date: March, 6th, 2008 Time: 8.00 am The students’ reaction, involvement and attitudes to the lectures: At pre-reading stage: more than half students: eager, excited At while- reading stage: quiet, lack of enthusiasm At the post-reading stage: boring, indifferent, doing private things Unit 12 the reading text: Getting better service (class 51 02) Date: April, 10th, 2008 Time: 10.00 am The students’ reaction, involvement and attitudes to the lectures: At the pre-reading stage: eager, excited, willing At the while- reading stage: interested, enthusiastic, highly-motivated At the post- reading stage: excited, pleasant, attentive Unit 13 the reading text: Revolution in the car industry (class 51 04) Date: April, 22nd, 2008 Time: 7.00 am The students’ reaction, involvement and attitudes to the lectures: At the pre-reading stage: boring, quiet At the while- reading stage: lack of interest, silent, passive At the post- reading stage: indifferent, lack of concentration LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ... from concentrating well on the text and when they get to the last paragraph they may not recall what they have read in the first ones LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com... an analysis of all the data collected in accordance with data collection instruments, that is classroom observation and survey questionnaire 4.1.1 Data analysis of the classroom observation The. .. The study was carried out with the participation of 112 students of English who are learning English at FFL, Academy of Finance In fact, they were in their second term of the first year at Faculty